Gates Corporation Awards Scholarships to Students in FIRST® Robotics Competition
Gates Corporation awarded scholarships to six high school seniors who used Gates belt drives on their competition robots.
Denver, CO, August 10, 2011 --(PR.com)-- Gates Corporation today announced it has awarded scholarships to six high school seniors who competed in the 2011 FIRST® Robotics Team competition, using a Gates belt drive on their competition robots. As a Diamond Supplier-sponsor of the FIRST competition, Gates provided both components and monetary contributions for the non-for-profit organization’s national science and technology competition, which took place April 27-30 at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis. The event had over 2,000 teams in competition – a record over previous years. In 2010, Gates awarded three scholarships to deserving high school seniors.
Competing for the Gates scholarships in a field of more than 60 applicants, seniors Benjamin Secora, of Brookfield, WI; Aaron Robertson of, Shawnee, KS; Preston Ohta of New York, NY: Dane Christianson of Aurora, IL; Ian Hartwig of Troy, MI; and Patrick Link of Detroit Lakes, MN each submitted a winning robotic project to the 2011 FIRST competition. They also successfully answered a challenge question posed by the Gates North America Commercial Selection Committee. Challenge questions required students to apply the kind of “out of the box” innovation and creativity demanded of real-world engineers. Their successful efforts earned each student a non-renewable $2,000 scholarship.
As an additional reward, the students and their parents were invited to visit the Gates Technical Center in Rochester Hills, MI, one of Gates global technical centers dedicated to power transmission research and development. During their visits, the students and their families were hosted by Gates executive and technical leaders, who provided tours of the facilities. Meetings with technical and engineering staff members provided students the opportunity to learn about new projects underway and get a first-hand look at high-tech engineering and test labs.
Said Warfield, “Gates believes in the impact of this Competition to stimulate the imaginations of these young, eager students, and, hopefully, direct their creative energies and enthusiasm to careers as future engineers. We are delighted to once again offer our support and active participation to this excellent program.”
About FIRST®
Accomplished inventor Dean Kamen founded FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) in 1989 to inspire an appreciation of science and technology in young people. Based in Manchester, N.H., FIRST designs accessible, innovative programs to build self-confidence, knowledge, and life skills while motivating young people to pursue opportunities in science, technology, and engineering. With support from three out of every five Fortune 500 companies and nearly $12 million in college scholarships, the not-for-profit organization hosts the FIRST® Robotics Competition (FRC®) and FIRST® Tech Challenge (FTC®) for high-school students, FIRST® LEGO® League (FLL®) for 9 to 14-year-olds, (9 to 16-year-olds outside the U.S. and Canada) and Junior FIRST® LEGO® League (Jr. FLL) for 6 to 9-year-olds. Gracious Professionalism™ is a way of doing things that encourages high-quality work, emphasizes the value of others, and respects individuals and the community. To learn more about FIRST, go to www.usfirst.org.
About Gates Corporation
Celebrating its 100th anniversary, Gates Corporation (www.gates.com) is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of industrial and automotive products, systems and components with operations in 29 countries. Gates maintains sales and marketing operations in every major industrial and automotive market, including North and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and the Middle East. Gates is part of the Industrial & Automotive group of Tomkins Ltd, which is owned by a consortium comprising Onex Corporation and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. Tomkins enjoys strong market positions and technical leadership across all of its business activities and owns some of the best-known brands in their respective markets.
###
Competing for the Gates scholarships in a field of more than 60 applicants, seniors Benjamin Secora, of Brookfield, WI; Aaron Robertson of, Shawnee, KS; Preston Ohta of New York, NY: Dane Christianson of Aurora, IL; Ian Hartwig of Troy, MI; and Patrick Link of Detroit Lakes, MN each submitted a winning robotic project to the 2011 FIRST competition. They also successfully answered a challenge question posed by the Gates North America Commercial Selection Committee. Challenge questions required students to apply the kind of “out of the box” innovation and creativity demanded of real-world engineers. Their successful efforts earned each student a non-renewable $2,000 scholarship.
As an additional reward, the students and their parents were invited to visit the Gates Technical Center in Rochester Hills, MI, one of Gates global technical centers dedicated to power transmission research and development. During their visits, the students and their families were hosted by Gates executive and technical leaders, who provided tours of the facilities. Meetings with technical and engineering staff members provided students the opportunity to learn about new projects underway and get a first-hand look at high-tech engineering and test labs.
Said Warfield, “Gates believes in the impact of this Competition to stimulate the imaginations of these young, eager students, and, hopefully, direct their creative energies and enthusiasm to careers as future engineers. We are delighted to once again offer our support and active participation to this excellent program.”
About FIRST®
Accomplished inventor Dean Kamen founded FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) in 1989 to inspire an appreciation of science and technology in young people. Based in Manchester, N.H., FIRST designs accessible, innovative programs to build self-confidence, knowledge, and life skills while motivating young people to pursue opportunities in science, technology, and engineering. With support from three out of every five Fortune 500 companies and nearly $12 million in college scholarships, the not-for-profit organization hosts the FIRST® Robotics Competition (FRC®) and FIRST® Tech Challenge (FTC®) for high-school students, FIRST® LEGO® League (FLL®) for 9 to 14-year-olds, (9 to 16-year-olds outside the U.S. and Canada) and Junior FIRST® LEGO® League (Jr. FLL) for 6 to 9-year-olds. Gracious Professionalism™ is a way of doing things that encourages high-quality work, emphasizes the value of others, and respects individuals and the community. To learn more about FIRST, go to www.usfirst.org.
About Gates Corporation
Celebrating its 100th anniversary, Gates Corporation (www.gates.com) is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of industrial and automotive products, systems and components with operations in 29 countries. Gates maintains sales and marketing operations in every major industrial and automotive market, including North and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and the Middle East. Gates is part of the Industrial & Automotive group of Tomkins Ltd, which is owned by a consortium comprising Onex Corporation and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. Tomkins enjoys strong market positions and technical leadership across all of its business activities and owns some of the best-known brands in their respective markets.
###
Contact
Gates Corporation
Mari Jane Panek
303.744.4533
www.gates.com
Mari Jane Panek
303.744.4533
www.gates.com
Contact
Categories